Firdose Moonda, South Africa Correspondent, ESPNcricinfo October 20, 2024, 9:55pm
The second one is the worst. that’s it. That’s tweeting, as they say.
Even though you know you were second best, second place sucks. He has come in second place three times in the last three finals, but second place is the worst. Second place is the worst. Because at some point, you think you’ve done enough to finish first. And South Africa were at that point this time.
With England and India eliminated and defending champions Australia taken out by their own hand, South Africa may never have a better chance of winning the World Cup. Not to discount the determined New Zealand team, but looking at their pre-tournament form and semi-final performance, South Africa looked to be the stronger, potentially better resourced and more stable side. For the first time, they found themselves in the unusual position of being favorites to win the final, and it seemed like they didn’t know what to do.
Despite Paul Adams’ motivational speech before the play, accompanied by an aerial view of the Arc de Triomphe, which inspires patriotism and symbolizes the central point where people from all walks of life meet, as South Africans often do , they lacked something on the field. They lacked vigor or intensity, and their body language, with furrowed brows and occasionally hunched shoulders, did not suggest they were taking ownership of the moment they had earned. South Africa were playing classic South African cricket, letting their opponents dictate the flow of the game.
They were taken aback by New Zealand’s fearless approach in the power play, which derailed their plans. Marisanne Cupp bowled just two overs instead of the usual three overs given to her throughout most of this tournament. Although Ayabonga Kaka took early wickets, she was unusually expensive. The stoic Wolvaardt later admitted that New Zealand’s “serious coming out put us at a bit of a disadvantage,” so South Africa realized they were only reacting and not dictating. , he said. “I thought we could get through if we got one or two wickets, but they just kept going.”
With New Zealand at 70 for 3 in 11 overs, South Africa started to find some form, but never looked like they were in control. As a result, New Zealand exposed South Africa’s weakness in not selecting their first-choice fifth bowler for the first time in this tournament. They smashed South Africa’s death bowling plans with Nadine de Klerk and Soon Roos combining for 34 runs in four overs, separating Nonkhululeko Mlaba and Kaka in the final over. “They did really well in the last five or six overs and really pushed the run rate up, but we were probably a bit behind.”
This is one way to explain South Africa’s display of an unusual lack of discipline, sending out 10 wides and three no-balls. It also meant they bowled two overs, which is careless in any match, including a final. They didn’t take any chances (which was a feature of this tournament) until the last ball of the innings, which gave New Zealand confidence and turned one run into two. There were enough fumbles. Ultimately, it meant that the target of around 140 points that South Africa had hoped to chase became almost 20 points larger. And there the game was lost.
South Africa celebrates Nadine de Klerk’s sacking of Sophie Devine, uses DRS AFP/Getty ImagesIn a way, at least in this match, I accepted the defeat because of the brutal agony of the last ball of the Men's T20 World Cup final in June, where they were tangled until the last over, and because there was no inevitability for Australia to win again as in this case. It became easier. February of last year. This time, South Africa spent most of their two innings processing the fact that the World Cup was not theirs. Tazmin Blitz and Laura Wolvaardt in particular showed promise on the power play, but South Africa’s midfield players were not tested in the high-pressure situations of this tournament and were eliminated. That is something South Africa will have to deal with in the future.
For now, all there is is a nostalgic emptiness, like a trophy won by someone else when South Africa once believed it was theirs. It seems silly to keep doing it because it’s been said so often, but this time (as before) it’s like “a curse that keeps us from winning World Cups,” as interim manager Dillon du Preez puts it. I felt it. It was about to break. And the team felt it too, which led to their own expectations, which probably did more harm than good. Wolvaardt said his parents “seem to be more sad than I am, so it’s a little heartbreaking,” but he also spoke eloquently about the outside pressures the team continues to face. At least she could see the bright side of it.
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“We talked before the game that we really felt like this was our year, and a lot of us felt that way,” Wolvaardt said. “Their aunt used to have a hunch that we were going to win, or feel a weird tingling in her little finger. It meant that Mother Cricket was always in charge and had bigger plans. You can never predict or write what’s going to happen.”Any team is off. ”
The words Wolvaardt used highlight how stupid the superstitions are in this sport, even though people cling to them when it’s all they want. Intuition always confronts the cold, hard truth, and the truth is that South Africa failed to bring their best game in the most important game. “It’s a little disappointing to play our worst game of the tournament in the final,” Wolvaardt said.
Perhaps the South Africans needed this more than the New Zealanders, at least with their ODI World Cup experience. Perhaps South Africans struggling with poverty, crime, corruption and hardship need hope more than New Zealanders who are in the top 10 of the world’s living standards index. But South Africans also know from experience how to move on, and they do it right away. Once the tears dry, they will realize they have a chance to play again in the ODI World Cup in India just a year later, and they will do so, as South Africans always do.
